Sir Robert Helpmann celebrity print 1972

Summary

This concrete footprint was formerly located as a part of the iconic McEwans celebrity pavement. Between 1972 and 1994, scores of celebrities had their handprints and footprints immortalised in cement at the entrance to the McEwans hardware store on Bourke Street. The City of Melbourne Art and Heritage Collection acquired a number of these impressed concrete slabs from the original celebrity pavement in 2005.

"Adelaide-born Sir Robert Helpmann (1909-1986) built his ballet career in London from the 1930s, forming an enduring dance partnership with Margot Fonteyn and developing as a choreographer for the Royal Ballet. As a stage and film actor, he worked with the likes of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Vivien Leigh. Helpmann was Australian of the Year in 1965, and was knighted in 1968. From 1966-1976, he was co-artistic director of the Australian Ballet. He was in Melbourne in August 1972 as guest artist with the Australian Ballet at the Princess Theatre." - Robyn Annear, 2023